Woman groped at music festival says she's received death threats

The US woman who was filmed slapping a man who groped her at a New Zealand music festival says she has received death threats since the incident made international headlines.
Madeline Anello-Kitzmiller, 20, was at the Rhythm and Vines festival in Gisborne on New Year's Eve when a man approached her from behind and touched her bare breast, which was painted with glitter at the time.

Footage of the moment captured Anello-Kitzmiller and her friend Kiri-Ann Hatfield hitting the man and tipping a drink onto him.

The widely-shared video attracted mixed responses, with many - including Gable Tostee - criticising her reaction and what she was wearing.

Now the Portland native has spoken about the "saddening" abuse she's received online over the past month, including threats to her life.

She began by explaining the glitter body art was applied at a dedicated stall at the festival, adding that nudity was a common sight at the event.
“I saw plenty of naked men that day getting absolutely no harassment for revealing themselves,” Anello-Kitzmiller said.
“There were naked men in the mosh [pit], my best friends got naked and ran through the crowds, I saw plenty of guys walking around with no shirt on and a handful of girls as well.”

Despite this, she said was subjected to cruel comments from men and women alike during the night.

Madeline Anello-Kitzmiller responded to her critics in a video.

Anello-Kitzmiller then lamented that women’s bodies, and particularly breasts, are “over-sexualised”, where men’s are not.
“I wanted to share my body because I think it’s an important step to normalising the naked body and desexualising them,” she tells the camera.

“The more often people see nudity, the more they realise that everyone is uniquely similar and that it’s nothing to gape over.”

Anello-Kitzmiller also took aim at critics who accused her of “asking for” attention by wearing a revealing outfit, arguing this attitude promotes rape culture.

“It’s disappointing that people really believe that what you’re wearing has any connection to what you actually want,” she said.
“When you say something like that, you’re justifying that man’s actions when he violated my rights to my own body.”

LISTEN: The Life Bites podcast on how we can all help stamp out sexual harassment and assault. (Post continues.)

Reflecting on the way she responded to the man who groped her, Anello-Kitzmiller admitted it would have been better to have him kicked out of the festival.

“He could have hit me back, and this whole shenanigan could have been a lot worse than it actually turned out,” she said.

“Ladies, if you are inspired to show some skin and fight back if anybody ever hurts you, do it, but take care of yourselves too.
“There was a lot of security at Rhythm and Vines and so I felt safe dressing like that and responding like that, but it’s not always the case.”

Responding to the groping incident, the festival organisers said they "do not condone any form of harrassment".

"We are incredibly disappointed that an incident like this has occurred at Rhythm and Vines, and that a select few feel that it is okay to behave in this manner," a statement read.